The

1986–87 NBA season The 1986–87 NBA season was the 41st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their fourth championship of the decade, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Notable ...

was the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' 39th season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and 30th season in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The team played at the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

in suburban

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

. The disappointing finish of the previous year caused a roster shake-up as the team dealt

Earl Cureton Earl Cureton (September 3, 1957 – February 4, 2024) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Twirl", he played college basketball for the Robert Morris Colonials and ...

to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

for Sidney Green, Kent Benson and

Kelly Tripucka Peter Kelly Tripucka (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1991. He was a two-time NBA All Star and averaged over twenty points a game i ...

to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for

Adrian Dantley Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dantley is a six-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection an ...

, and guard John Long to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

for draft picks. The team added

John Salley John Thomas Salley ( ; born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Green, and LeBron James), as ...

and

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forw ...

in the

1986 NBA draft The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17, 1986. Overview and aftermath This draft holds the record for the most players (out of prospects chosen) who later debuted in the NBA, with 66. Drug and health issues involving drafted players There were ...

to complete the turnover. The moves by GM "Trader Jack" McCloskey paid immediate dividends as the team finished 52–30 (.634), 2nd in the Central Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, defeating the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

3–0 in the first round and then the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

4–1 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. The tightly contested conference finals went to a 7th game thanks to Celtics star

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

when he made an improbable steal in the closing seconds of Game 5. Leading by 1 point, Pistons star

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III ( ; born April 30, 1961), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is head coach of the Saginaw Soul of the Basketball Super League, and also an analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. H ...

waived off a timeout request from Pistons coach

Chuck Daly Charles Jerome Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era— ...

, hurried a lofting inbound pass to center

Bill Laimbeer William Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American former professional basketball coach and player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his physical style of play, he played a big part in the Pistons earni ...

, as Bird stepped in for the steal, passing to teammate

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

for the 108–107 Boston win. Long-time Celtic announcer Johnny Most's call of Bird's game-saving steal in the 1987 playoffs at the end of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference finals vs. Detroit was memorable with "Aaaaaaand now there's a steal by Bird, underneath to DEE-Jay, he lays it in...and Boston has a one-point lead right with one second to go... What a play by Bird!...Oh my this place is goin' crazy!" After a Pistons home win in Game 6, the series returned to the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

for the 7th game with the Celtics holding off Detroit 117–114 for the series victory. Detroit was led on the season by guard Thomas (20.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, NBA All-Star), center Laimbeer (15.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, NBA All-Star), and forward Dantley (21.5 ppg).

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 8 , November 15, 1986 ,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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W 119–114
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W 118–101
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, 21–10 , - align="center" , colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff", All-Star Break , - style="background:#cfc;" , - bgcolor="#bbffbb" , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 50 , February 19, 1987 ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

W 117–105
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L 102–112
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W 122–119 (OT)
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L 111–128
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W 108–107
, , , ,

Seattle Center Coliseum Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as the Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ...

, 47–24 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 74 , April 3, 1987 , @

L 115–119 (OT)
, , , ,

, 48–26

Playoffs

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

W 106–92
,

(34) , Laimbeer, Rodman (10) ,

(9) ,

15,419 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 26 ,

W 128–85
,

(24) ,

(9) , Vinnie Johnson (13) ,

14,389 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 29 , @

W 97–96
, Dantley,

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

(21) ,

Rick Mahorn Derrick Allen Mahorn (born September 21, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who played power forward and center for the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Jersey Nets of the National Ba ...

(12) ,

(10) , Capital Centre
10,831 , 3–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 3 , @

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

W 112–111
,

(30) ,

(10) ,

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Cente ...

14,361 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 5 , @

L 102–115
, Laimbeer, Rodman (20) ,

(12) ,

(6) ,

16,522 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 8 ,

W 108–99
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(9) ,

(8) ,

24,544 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 10 ,

W 89–88
,

(31) ,

(17) ,

Joe Dumars Joe Dumars III ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the head of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans. He could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was ...

(5) ,

17,269 , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 13 , @

W 104–96
,

(21) ,

(16) ,

(12) ,

16,522 , 4–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 19, 1987 , @

L 91–104
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(18) ,

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(10) ,

14,890 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 21, 198 , @

L 101–110
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(36) ,

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14,890 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 23, 1987 ,

W 122–104
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(25) ,

(12) , Vinnie Johnson (8) ,

23,525 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 24, 1987 ,

W 145–119
,

(32) ,

(13) ,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, Dumars (8) ,

27,387 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , May 26, 1987 , @

L 107–108
,

(25) ,

(14) ,

(11) ,

14,890 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 28, 1987 ,

W 113–105
, Dantley,

(24) ,

(18) ,

(9) ,

28,383 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 7 , May 30, 1987 , @

L 114–117
,

(35) ,

(13) ,

(9) ,

14,890 , 3–4 , -

Awards and records

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and records

References

See also